


Shining Brighter

by Serani



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-12
Updated: 2019-11-12
Packaged: 2021-01-29 02:41:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21402835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serani/pseuds/Serani
Summary: A gift of hope to Monbebe around the world.Lee Hoseok-Wonho as he is known by millions-sacrificed his dreams to protect those he loves. The impact of that decision reverberated throughout the kpop world, sparking petitions, collections, days of trending and more from thousands of fans around the globe. But the hardest hit by his exit wasn't monbebe. The ones hit hardest by this decision were the other six members of his family.But the show must go on. While the monbebe would understand, no one wanted to disappoint them, either. And so, perform they did, with a hole in their family, a hole in their performance. A hole in their lives.They performed. And they won. But now that it's over, they have to face what's next and that's a struggle they're not sure they can face. Will they have to?
Relationships: Chae Hyungwon/Lee Hoseok | Wonho
Comments: 4
Kudos: 47





	Shining Brighter

**Author's Note:**

> First, I obviously don’t own the names or people in this story. The only thing that’s mine is the idea and plot. 
> 
> Second, I used Wonho instead of Hoseok simply to avoid the repetition of “H” names. Personal thought is that they very likely call him Hoseok when not in public (and, thus, would think that name). However, it creates some frustrating repetition, especially with Hyungwon’s name. Thus, aside from Changkyun, I stuck with stage names.
> 
> Three, yes, there are pairings. Popular ones, but pairings. Two of them are squint-and-you-miss-it. The third is quite obvious. These are simply my preference and obviously (mostly) in my imagination. Try to enjoy it anyway. ;)

They sat, spread across the living room, each in their own seats, except one. Despite being a single chair, it took up more than half the living room, simply because of the distinctive emptiness of it.

In the middle, on the coffee table, stood two awards, though the wins rang hollow. Minhyuk was pretty sure the others felt the same way he did. He wanted to celebrate the awards, wanted to be happy for all they’d done, for all Monbebe had done, for all the support and love they’d shown.

It was hard to celebrate those wins as they should, though. Instead they all sat, staring either at the awards or into nothingness around them. How could they? How could they even… accept them? They’d been heavier than Minhyuk remembered, more cumbersome to hold.

Silence filled what remained of the room, along with tension and a riot of emotions none of them could begin to sort out. At least for Minhyuk. If he knew the others like he thought he did, similar things ran through their heads.

The empty chair mocked them. Those awards should have included him, the one who completed them as a family. The one who made them shine brighter. His smile, his happiness, his love for everyone. His pride in them, Monbebe, everyone who helped, who supported, who listened and loved. He’d probably be crying, though they’d be good tears. They’d won, twice. And he’d say they should celebrate it.

Except he should have been there to accept it. And he wasn’t.

So how could they? What was there to celebrate? They were missing a _limb_. There was a hole, in the family, in their performance, in their lives.

The hole helped to fill them with anger. Anger that fueled their performances. None of them wanted to be on stage, at least not while they had a hole in their family, not for this reason, anyway. Health? Sure. They’d happily fill in for that. For this? No. They weren’t going to erase him, weren’t going to pretend he was never there. So they’d let the anger at the unfairness of it fuel their dance, remind them to keep that space. Because they couldn’t do anything else.

Minhyuk took in the faces around him and struggled not to cry. Changkyun and Jooheon had both been crying. They all had, but it’d been even more obvious on Changkyun. Neither had written so much as a single lyric in weeks. Shownu barely ate and couldn’t seem to bring himself to cook. Neither could Kihyun. If that wasn’t bad enough, the house was a _mess_. Kihyun hadn’t picked up a broom or mixing spoon since the whole thing started.

Hyungwon sat in the same spot he’d been in every moment they weren’t on stage or at some sort of promotional event. The chair next to the empty one. Minhyuk dug into his memory for the last time Hyungwon slept. There’d been the brief snatches when he’d been sitting in the empty chair. He’d worn a T-shirt three sizes too big for him and watched something on his phone—the video, Minhyuk remembered—on repeat. Besides that, Minhyuk couldn’t remember other sleep in all that time.

The smiles Minhyuk himself had forced had hurt, physically hurt. He’d had to make a concerted effort to move the muscles in his face. And every smile that didn’t reach his eyes prodded at the hole in his heart. He’d done what they’d expected of him. He’d tried, he’d really tried. But his eyes were red and the noonas tutted over him—over them—trying hard to cover the red, though as good as they were, they didn’t succeed completely.

Would the empty chair ever be filled again? There was only one who could fill it. Others could sit there, sure, but no one else could _fill_ it.

They needed to do something, but Minhyuk had no idea what. How did they deal with this? How did they keep going?

Move… on?

He winced at the thought. He couldn’t even _think_ that phrase without the urge to cry overwhelming him. Instead, he shoved the thought into a box and pushed it away into the farthest reaches of his mind. Their family _would _be whole again.

It would.

It took a moment to register the sounds interrupting the silence. A rattle, a thud. Footsteps. In an instant, the six of them were on their feet. They turned, almost as one, to face the entrance hall.

And then he was there.

No one moved. Minhyuk stopped breathing.

Wonho’s gaze was fixed on one of them. Minkyuk couldn’t blame him. If he were in Wonho’s place, he would be doing the same.

But Minhyuk couldn’t seem to drag his eyes away from Wonho to look at the one Wonho was looking at. Apparently, he didn’t need to.

Because before Minhyuk could even move, Hyungwon crossed the room in maybe two strides. In fact, Minhyuk wasn’t sure Hyungwon’s feet even touched the floor. Then he was standing in front of Wonho, breathing hard. A heartbeat later, he brought his hand up.

The crack echoed through the room, making five people wince in sympathy. However, it wasn’t until a second crack—_ouch, that was the same cheek!—_landed that anything happened. It wasn’t quite what Minhyuk expected, but as soon as it happened, he knew it was right.

Hyungwon crashed into Wonho, fingers spearing through Wonho’s hair, palms cradling his face as their lips practically fused together. Muscular arms went around Hyungwon’s waist and Wonho lifted him. A few seconds later, with Hyungwon’s legs around Wonho’s waist, the two still lost in each other, Wonho carried Hyungwon through the living room.

Though the other five all turned, unable to _not _look, silence still reigned.

Until a door down the hall slammed.

“Uh… I’m hungry,” Shownu said, drawing everyone’s attention. “I think I’ll go make something.”

“I’ll help. Need to wash dishes,” Kihyun said and the two of them went straight for the kitchen.

Changkun and Jooheon looked at each other, smiles dancing around their lips. “We have songs to write,” they said at the same time and disappeared into the studio.

Minhyuk grinned.

**Author's Note:**

> Please think about joining Monbebe and other fandoms on Twitter and help push for change. No artist should be forced to give up their dreams, pushed out of their group because of something they may or may not have done in the past. Cyber bullying should not be allowed, much less to the point of ruining an artist's life. The studios need to step up and protect their artists. They need to remember idols are people, not perfect, disposable goods to be thrown out at the first sign of a flaw. This affects *all* fandoms. Look for the #IdolsAreHumansToo or #IdolsAreHumanToo tags on Twitter and help us out.


End file.
